19 Şubat 2008 Salı
Can't Afford the Patent? Have Congress Write You an Exception
Big businesses have been known recently for patenting anything and everything. Individuals have patented obvious things only to wait in hiding until some company uses the idea from their patent and then sues them to "get rich quick". It would seem that we need to do something to reform the patent system so that it gets back to what it was designed for, getting ideas out in the open for the benefit of the general public while still providing a small time of economic advantage to the inventor. So, what happens when you're a big business and you can't afford (or don't want to) license somebody's patent? Have a Senator write you an exception. A company named DataTreasury has a patent on a system "for digitally scanning, sending and archiving checks." Some banks have licensed the idea while others have used their influence in Washington, D.C. to try to get the government to use eminent domain to buy the patent at a cost of $1 billion over 10 years and then give the banks a pass on paying for it. This is just wrong. First, my tax dollars should not be spent so that the banks have a better bottom line. (Though to be fair, the banks have said that they are working to make it so that the government wouldn't have to spend money.) Second, this is a wrong use of eminent domain. Eminent domain should not be used by the government to shuffle private property. Banks need to either license the technology like everybody else or do without it.
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Disclaimer: I work for a bank.
YanıtlaSilI have to say I really disagree with you on this one. This is not simply "getting around a patent." No, instead, this is the government admitting that it CREATED a new REQUIRED expense for banks, and then actually doing something about it instead of just letting banks pass the cost onto their customers. The Check21 Law REQUIRES all banks to handle their checks electronically - all checks must now be scanned before before being sent to a automated clearing house (run by the government) which routes checks to the appropriate home bank. By going electronic, the government reduced their own paperwork and costs, and thus in theory saved taxpayers money. But if in doing so they required banks to violate this patent, they just undid the very good they allegedly sought to do.
Think of it this way. It is as thought the government said to you "From now on, you must submit all tax payments electronically, which will save you money in the short and long term," and then you learned that some company wanted to charge you $1000 every time you paid your taxes, because they owned the patent on paying taxes electronically and thus can set their own rates. Unfair, eh? No different here.
Patents exist to ensure that inventors are compensated for the time and effort of working out their ideas. They do not protect an absolute right. This is a case where paying off the inventor is a clear public good. Frankly, I think the US government should do the same thing with hybrid automobile engine technology, so that all US car-makers can use it without paying royalties, in an effort to cut emissions.
Sorry, Wedge, but you are wrong on this one. And unless the US Patent system gets an overhaul soon, we're going to be seeing more of this.
Thanks for the clarification, Nomad... I figured I was missing something there. Then again, from the article it sounds like the guy doesn't want to sell his patent (only license) and that he has already been battling in court where his patent was upheld.
YanıtlaSilYup. It is basically another "unfunded mandate" and Congress is scrambling to cover themselves.
YanıtlaSilNomad,
YanıtlaSilYou may want to go back and revisit the Check 21 legislation. No where does it make mandatory Image Replacement Documents or IRDs or even using electronic check clearing. In fact the banks after stealing this IP realized a processing saving measured in dollars not the .025 cents DataTreasury was looking for in a license. The Banks lobbied for Check 21 it certainly wasn't some brilliant idea from the Hill and this was all years after DataTreasury first approached th Banks with the technology. So quizwedge continue your pursuit of truth it only get more interesting the deeper you dig.
A lot of these patents are for things that are really quite easy to invent. Is it really a great leap of the imagination to realise that cheques can be processes electronicaly?
YanıtlaSilThe techies get upset a lot by software patents - they are often used to prevent competition, when a big company wants to ensure no smaller ones can enter a field it dominates or build interoperating products.
Being a software engineer myself, I understand the problem with patenting obvious software and business practices. Unfortunately, the current system allows patenting of obvious things, in part because of the lack of reviewers who know software. The solution though, is not to pick and choose which ones we don't want to support, but rather find a system that is fair for all.
YanıtlaSil